


Roses

by ProwlingThunder



Category: Saint Seiya
Genre: Andromeda Island, Gen, Kid Fic, Kid!Shun, Promises, Roses, Stop Molesting That Plant Albiore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-30
Updated: 2014-04-30
Packaged: 2018-01-21 08:44:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1544717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ProwlingThunder/pseuds/ProwlingThunder
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shun and Albiore have a conversation on promises and self-discovery.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Roses

There is a single spot on Andromeda Island that Master Albiore calls his own. The trainees get called to the spot on occasion; Shun has been called three times, and on one hand he wishes he were called more often but on the other, he knows better.

 

Master Albiore calls trainees to his home only if he was worried for them, and Shun has taken great pains to nurse his injuries out of site after the first few times. He is certainly not at the back of the class, after the horror-stories the elder kids whispered around the campfire.

 

Everyone knows what they are trying for, of course, though what they are after is almost as terrifying as those stories.

 

They are all aiming for a Cloth no one has touched for at least two hundred years. Andromeda, maiden-princess of Ethiopia.

 

The Amazons train even harder then most the others, and Shun finds himself working more on their timetable then his own. When Albiore sees him, Shun finds himself called to the Master's home overlooking the surf, nearly out of site from the trainee lodgings.

 

But the best parts are hidden beyond the building, where the sun is beginning to die. The horizon is painted in gold, but the central orb is missing.

 

Albiore turns to him as he approaches, and Shun tucks his head meekly, and says nothing.

 

He doesn't know what to say. He doesn't know why he's here.

 

“Shun. Why are you here?”  
  
It's a simple question. He hunches his shoulders a little; that's what all the other trainees ask, too. Why are you here, mouse? Rabbit? Princess?

 

Except the young Amazons. Their questions are different, more outside than in. All their names mean something; they've earned them. What had he done? What did his mean?  
  
Master Albiore's question doesn't really seem like anyone else's, though. It's sharper, more pressing; a bit like a cage. He resists the urge to scuff his training sandals against the dirt. “I know not.” He can understand Greek well, but pronouncing the letters is different, here, so speaking it is still hard. Under Master Albiore's scrutiny, he feels ashamed for it.

 

“You don't know why you came to the Island?” Master Albiore sounds... surprised, maybe. Worried. Maybe a little disappointed.

 

Shun's heart sinks. He's in trouble.

 

But Master Albiore doesn't look mad, just sad, when Shun glances up at him. “I made promise.” He blurts out, and then flinches for speaking out of turn, glancing wide-eyed and wary around him.

 

But there is no Tatsumi to emerge from the servants stair, no grasping hands or harsh voice.

 

There's also no big brother. Not here.

 

Shun wishes he were here.

 

“So did I.” Master Albiore looks no less worried, but he sounds almost approving; for the life of him, Shun can't figure out why. “Come. I want to show you something.”

 

There is a gate to a fence behind Master Albiore that the teacher passes through, and for a moment Shun hesitates, then takes a breath and edges through as well.

 

Roses bloom on the otherside, dousing Shun in a sudden splash of color. It overlooks the ocean, and he almost imagines that he can feel the spray. The sun's golden light casts everything bronze, but Shun can make out just enough of the hues to recognize red from blue from yellow. Whites are doused sporadically inside the mess. It reminds him of some of the art hung at the Kido house, but he didn't remember what they were called.

 

It looked kind of pretty.

 

Master Albiore settled in a small clearing in the mess of flowers and leaves and thorns-- maybe big enough for two Master Albiore's, but it is hard to say with there being only one of them.

 

Shun creeps into it with ease; he's small for his age, he knows, but he is still just a kid. A bunch of the boys from Mister Kido's home could sit here easily.

 

“Sit, Shun.” Master Albiore encouraged, and Shun blinked. It wasn't a bed of grass Master Albiore sat on, but layers of leaves, spread thick enough over trailing vines that made a blanket on the soil. It looked comfy, and felt that way too, when he settled down.

 

For a while they just sat there, watching the sun set in the distance amongst flowers that shouldn't be able to grow here. Eventually, Shun stops expecting Tatsumi to jump out and demand he leave Missus Kido's flower garden.

 

Tatsumi isn't here.

 

“So, who did you promise?” Master Albiore asks, and he sounds honestly curious. Shun peeks up at him shyly.

 

Shun murmurs 'o adelfós mou' like it's a sacred word, full of the holy power it has always seemed to possess.

 

If Master Albiore is surprised or disappointed, he does not show it. He just tips his head up to the glowing stars above, burning brighter and brighter now that the sun has faded. And then he asks, “So what did you promise?”

 

He immediately wants to answer, but presses his lips together in a tight line. He and his brother had made a promise, and no matter how nice Master Albiore had been, you didn't break things like that.

 

He shook his head instead and whispered 'axia' before giving his teacher an innocent enough smile. “Made promise. Is ours.”  
  
“Fair enough.” Master Albiore consents, and threads chain-calloused fingers into vines and thorns like he's greeting an old friend.


End file.
